


Christmas Cat

by jameshathaway



Category: Lewis (TV)
Genre: Christmas, Community: lewis_challenge, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-26
Updated: 2018-12-26
Packaged: 2019-09-25 12:59:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17121824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jameshathaway/pseuds/jameshathaway
Summary: “Morse faced down a tiger once. I apparently can’t handle an eight pound ball of fluff.”





	Christmas Cat

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Lewis Christmas/Winter Challenge 2018. My prompt was [this picture](https://images.pexels.com/photos/236586/pexels-photo-236586.jpeg?auto=compress&cs=tinysrgb&h=750&w=1260).

Robbie had barely walked in the door when Jean practically pounced on him, her eyes rimmed red. “My office. Now.”

It wasn’t like her to send texts, so the “Come back ASAP” message caught Robbie’s attention immediately and he had sent James the rest of the way alone to pick up lunch.

She whipped open her office door. “Look at it, Lewis. Just look.”

Robbie paused in the doorway, taking in the many strands of tinsel draped across the bookshelves, the snowflakes hanging from the ceiling, the strong scent of holiday potpourri, and the miniature Christmas tree occupying the center of the conference table.

“Very nice. But if this is a ruse to get me to admire your interior design abilities, ma’am, you picked the wrong bloke.”

Jean slid past him, into her office, and stood just inside the door frame. “Very funny, Lewis. I asked Julie to do a spot of decorating. Honestly, I can’t quite tell if this is her taking the piss or a genuine effort.”

“I’m sorry, you texted me to complain about Julie going mad with tinsel?”

“No, I texted you to complain about her.”

“Julie?”

“Catch up, Lewis. No. Her,” Jean said, pointing at a large snowball decoration in the corner. No, wait, that was a cat.

“Looks pretty harmless to me, ma’am.”

“Victim’s pet, rumor has it. Peterson ditched it in my office before conveniently going off rota and turning off his mobile.” She sniffled.

“Allergies, ma’am?”

Jean pressed on. “I would’ve just thrown it in yours and Hathaway’s, but the door was bloody locked, and I don’t know if I could even catch the bloody thing.”

“Thoughtful of you to consider us, ma’am. What about Animal Welfare?”

“On a skeleton crew for the holiday and I don’t fancy bothering them further unless I have to. I figured we could probably handle it in-house. You have a cat, right? Between you and Hathaway you ought to be able to deal with this one.”

She walked out of the room before Robbie had concocted an answer.

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

James walked in to see Robbie dabbing his hand with a tissue and muttering something about Morse and a tiger.

“Did you get lunch?”

James sidestepped the question but set two sandwiches down on the desk. “Meeting went well, I see,” he observed, gesturing at the bloody cuff on Robbie’s left sleeve.

“Meeting? It was an ambush. There’s a cat, Hathaway. A cat.”

“You like cats.”

“I like Monty. There’s a difference.” He paused and added ominously, “She’s no Monty.”

“That seems a bit dramatic.”

Robbie wasn't deterred. “Morse faced down a tiger once. I apparently can’t handle an eight pound ball of fluff.”

“Maybe you just startled her. Most animals tend to lash out and get a bit prickly when they’re hurt or out of their comfort zone,” James said pointedly. “Not unlike people.”

“Don’t pull that psychology mumbo-jumbo with me,” Robbie started. James raised a brow.

“Maybe you smell like Monty.” James suggested, reaching to pick Robbie’s ham and cheese sandwich up again.

“What's that supposed to mean?” Robbie asked, frowning as James opened the packet, ignoring his own lunch.

“Exactly what I said.” James proceeded to remove the meat from Robbie’s sandwich.

“Don’t you have your own food?” Robbie finally asked, with a note of indignancy.

“It’s for the cat. Doubt she’d care for hummus and veg.”

James grabbed a book off his desk, careful not to smudge ham on it.

“Wouldn’t a leather jacket and gloves be a better bet for this mission?”

“I’ve been told I have a soothing voice. Maybe _she’ll_ appreciate the Shakespeare.”

Annoyingly, the cat seemed to be on her best behavior as soon as James showed up.

After finishing what remained of his sandwich, Robbie peered in the door to see James lying flat on his back and reading out loud in a lower, slower version of his usual mumble. He’d removed his jacket and shoes and, as Robbie watched, the cat sniffed his forest green socks before climbing on top of his stomach. They made a good picture, he thought, the white cat on James’s white shirt.

He smiled to himself and went to find a cup of tea.

When he returned half an hour later, James was sitting up, surrounded by miniature baubles, bowling them one by one towards the cat.

“Watch your step, sir,” he supplied helpfully, as Robbie narrowly avoided crushing an ornament and began navigating more carefully across the room.

“A man of many skills, you are. Didn't expect lion taming to be one of them, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised.”

“She's quite sweet, really,” James said, as he rolled a gold ornament and the cat batted it across the carpeting.

“Tell that to my mangled hand.” Robbie said, waving the extremity in question to illustrate his point.

“Stop that. You'll love her.”

“I’ll love her? You love her. You take her.”

“Can't have pets in the flat, sir,” he said, sadly.

“I have Monty already,” Robbie defended, but he already sensed that he was fighting a losing battle.

“You're going to leave this poor animal, without a home, at Christmastime, robbing Monty of a potential friend?” James asked, looking up at Robbie with a mournful expression.

“Fine.” Robbie finally caved. “I’ll go find a box. But this is your idea, so you're damn well coming too!”

“Where else would I be?”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to all of my Morseverse friends who have been encouraging me to give fic writing a try for a while, and an especially big "thank you" to [@McG](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcg) for her editing suggestions and moral support. :)


End file.
